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The Committee on Social Theory at The University of Kentucky is hosting Professor Mahmood Mamdani as its Fall Distinguished Speaker. On October 2, Dr. Mamdani will give a talk entitled “Political Violence and Political Justice: A Critique of Criminal Justice as Accountability.” The talk will take place at 3:30 pm in the W.T. Young Library Auditorium.

Dr. Mamdani is a Professor of Anthropology, Political Science and African Studies at Columbia University. He is also the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University’s School of Internal Affairs. Additionally, he is the Director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research in Kampala, Uganda.

A native of Uganda, Dr. Mamdani was awarded one of 26 scholarships to study in the United States when Uganda won its independence. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, Mamdani joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1972. While conducting dissertation research in Uganda he was expelled by Idi Amin. After the overthrow of Amin, Mamdani returned to Uganda, but his citizenship was eventually revoked as a result of his scholarship’s criticism of the government. During his career Mamdani has been visiting professor at the University of Michigan, University of Durban-Westville, the Nuhru Memorial Museum and Library, and Princeton University. He was also the inaugural chair of African studies at the University of Cape Town.

Professor Mamdani’s current work explores the intersection between politics and culture, a comparative study of colonialism since 1452, the history of civil war and genocide in Africa, the Cold War and the War on Terror, and the history and theory of human rights. His most recent book, Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror (2009), investigates how conflict in Darfur began as a civil war and transformed into a War on Terror.

Jim Duff graduated magna cum laude from the UK Honors Program in 1975, and holds B.A. degrees in both political science and philosophy. While at UK, Duff earned a Phi Beta Kappa membership and was a “walk on” for the University of Kentucky Men’s basketball team. He visited the A&S Currents class on Thursday October 18, 2012 to give a lecture and share his insights.

From 1996-2000, Duff served as counselor William H. Rehnquist and was appointed as the director of the U.S. court system by Chief Justice John Roberts in 2006, where he oversaw the federal judiciary's 35,000 employees and its $7 billion annual budget. Last year, Duff was named the president and CEO of the Newseum, an interactive museum that educates the public about the importance of the First Amendment in innovative ways to inspire an engaged citizenry.